


Lost souls in revelry.

by crumbleduppieceofpaper



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas AU, Gen, Hogsmeade, platonic prongsfoot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-08 23:20:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5516933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crumbleduppieceofpaper/pseuds/crumbleduppieceofpaper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tumblr Christmas AU: DRUNKEN CAROLLING (”that’s not a thing” “oh yes it is”).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost souls in revelry.

**Author's Note:**

> For Prongs. Merry Christmas, you loser. 
> 
> (Title taken from Renegades by X Ambassadors.)

They were in the Great Hall when James first started suspecting something was up.

  
“So, what you gonna do for Christmas?” Sirius asked casually. James knew as well as Sirius that Sirius’ casual voice was but a façade: year upon year, Sirius was afraid he’d be alone at Christmas. Year upon year, James stayed at Hogwarts so Sirius wouldn’t be.

“Stayin’ here.”

“Good,” Sirius said with a smirk, which alarmed James. He knew Sirius’ smirks all too well and this one suggested trouble. On top of that, a smirk wasn’t Sirius’ usual reaction to James staying for Christmas; he usually smiled and looked at his shoes, feeling guilty for keeping James from his family and too shy to say thanks. James always knew that Sirius appreciated it though, that Sirius grew fonder of James every year he stayed – although that was unnecessary, James was sure Remus and Peter would stay as well, had they not been forced to come home for Christmas. James’ parents had let him stay at Christmas from year one, when he had told them about Sirius’ home situation. Lately, they had even been talking about taking in Sirius so he wouldn’t ever have to be home again.

“What you up to, padfoot?” James asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. Remus looked up at that.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sirius replied, getting up and disappearing to the Gryffindor’s common room.

 

 

Christmas came sooner than expected. Remus and Peter were packing their bags, Remus checking his things off a list, Peter cramming his suitcase shut. Soon the Hogwarts express was leaving and the castle was almost empty. The colors in the Great Hall changed from house shades to red and green, a big Christmas tree replacing the tables in the center. James and Sirius weren’t really fans of the way the four long tables were replaced by two short ones, one on either side of the tree, since this way they’d probably end up next to a Slytherin.

“Let’s go to Hogsmeade,” Sirius suggested after dinner. James could tell from the way his eyes widened a little to an innocent expression that it was more than a suggestion: Sirius obviously had a plan.

And James could be the responsible one and suggest hanging out in the common room instead, knowing that whatever Sirius had planned, it couldn’t be good and keep them out of trouble, but what the hell, it was Christmas and wasn’t that all about having fun with friends and family?

“Sure,” he said, keeping the same façade Sirius had and pretending that he didn’t see Sirius smirking from the corner of his eye.

 

 

“So,” James said, “what _is_ your plan?”

He glanced around The Three Broomsticks, where tiny Santa’s were flying around in slightly bigger sleighs, sometimes only just missing the visitors’ heads. Three Christmas trees were swaying to the sound of music James could vaguely hear in the background of all the chatting, enchanted candles in them. Sirius and James had been here for the past few hours, drinking a few butterbeers and even some firewhiskey – Madame Rosmerta usually turned a blind eye during Christmas.

“What d’ya mean?” Sirius said, words slightly slurred, acting as if he was innocence itself.

“C’mon, you think I don’t know that look?” James smirked. Sirius’ eyes went wide. He was obviously tipsy – however, if Sirius hadn’t been, James had still recognized the fake innocence.

“What look?”

“That smirk of yours. Tell me what your plan is.”

Sirius took another sip of his firewhiskey and stared at the bottom of his glass. James could tell Sirius was considering telling his best friend what he was up to. After a few minutes, Sirius looked up and said, “Well, I s’pose it’s time to tell ya. I do need you, after all.”

James frowned, wondering what the hell Sirius was talking about. Sirius avoided James’ eyes and grabbed the bag he had slung around his shoulder earlier that night. James had been wondering what had been in that bag, but had totally forgotten about it after his third butter beer. Now that he was about to find out, however, his curiosity increased.  
Sirius’ slightly trembling hands hoisted a guitar out of the bag, holding the instrument carefully – Sirius knew that if something happened to it, James would kill him.

“There it is! I’ve been looking for it for days, you moron!” James said, quickly snatching the guitar from Sirius' hands. Sirius smiled.

“Well, ’m sorry, but it was nice actually getting some sleep without you strumming around on that thing.”

“Oh, you love my lullabies,” James teased with a smirk. He started plucking at the strings of the guitar immediately, having missed the sound.

“Good thing you’re already playing, ’m gonna need you to keep doing that.”

James raised an eyebrow.

 

 

“So this was your plan all along?” James mumbled, his lips starting to turn blue from the cold. His hands already were. Sirius’ hands were okay, only his fingertips freezing – he was wearing black, fingerless gloves.

Sirius smirked, “Figured we had to try Christmas caroling the muggle way at least once. If only to piss my parents off.”

“And you figured it would be a good idea to do that after we’d had firewhiskey and butterbeer?”

“How else would I get you to play? Mr. James Potter, I present to you: drunken caroling!”

“That’s not a thing, Padfoot.”

“Now it is!” Sirius said triumphantly.

James just rolled his eyes, shaking his head a little. How was it that around Sirius, he always was the responsible one? At least Sirius was starting to sober up.

 

 

“O! Holy night! The stars, their gleams- Hey, that’s fucking rude!” Sirius said as the fiftieth door was slammed shut in their faces. He was about to walk up to the house to knock on the door again when James stopped him. There had been wizards and witches throwing doors shut in their faces all night, but James really didn’t wanna spend his Christmas vacation in detention because Sirius and he had gotten in a row over Christmas caroling.

“C’mon padfoot, maybe next house we’ll have more luck.”

Sirius sighed, defeated. His shoulders slumped a bit as he followed his best friend to the next house.

“I’m sorry James, I didn’t mean to ruin your Christmas night. I just thought, you know, that it’d be fun and people wouldn’t be such –”

“I know, I know. It’s okay,” James said, “Let’s try one more house. And if they slam the door in our face again, we’ll give them the loudest goddamn Christmas carol ever, that they can hear even from behind the door.”

Sirius grinned, nodding and quickening his pace to the house in front of them. That was how James liked it.

 

 

“You ready?” Sirius asked before he knocked on the door. James nodded, placing his fingers on the right guitar strings. Sirius knocked the door, making a loud enough sound to be heard inside the house.

He stepped back, taking place next to James on the steps in front of the house and waited. As soon as the door opened, James started playing and Sirius joined in, singing.

“Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright, round yon virgin mother and child,” Sirius sang, looking up when he didn’t hear the door slamming shut. James looked up as well, surprised to see a 6-year-old girl watching them with wide eyes. Sirius smiled and waved at her, thankful that she hadn’t cut them off yet, while he continued the song.

“Holy infant, so tender and mild, sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.”

When Sirius looked back up at the younger girl, she was hiding somewhere behind the leg of a guy in his thirties, who in his turn was standing with his arm wrapped around the waist of another thirty-year-old guy, probably his husband. They were smiling, cheering Sirius on when he looked at them.

James saw the bright smile on Sirius’ face and felt a grin taking over his own face.

“Silent night, holy night, shepherds quake at the sight; glories stream from heaven afar, heavenly hosts sing Alleluia! Christ the Savior is born, Christ the Savior is born!” Sirius belted out, slowing down to announce the end of the song. James strummed a few more chords before letting them fade out.

When it was totally silent and the song had officially ended, the couple in the doorstep clapped. The little girl clapped along timidly. Sirius smirked and took a bow. James followed his lead and bent forward as far as the guitar at his waist allowed him to.

One of the men in the doorstep stepped forward, allowing James and Sirius to see his face. His blue eyes were shining with happiness and dimples appeared in his cheeks.

“That was so lovely!” he said, shaking both Sirius and James’ hands. James smiled shyly.

“Thanks.” Sirius gave him a million dollar grin.

“I’m Brent,” the young man said and Brent’s husband, who had come out of the house to greet them as well, introduced himself as Lincoln. His hair was a bit darker than Brent’s blonde hair and so were his eyes, which were a deep shade of brown and looked kind.

“This is Lisa,” Lincoln said, nodding to the girl who had followed her daddy outside of the house, “she’s a little shy.”

Sirius smiled, getting on his knees to match the smaller girl’s height.

“Hiya Lisa,” he said, holding out his hand for her to shake, “I’m Sirius.”

She took his hand but didn’t smile, still a little too timid to do so.

“Firm grip you got there,” Sirius joked. James just hoped his breath didn’t reek of butterbeer anymore.

They talked a little more about Christmas caroling, how rude some people had been and how long they’d been playing together. When James said to Sirius that they should be heading back soon because he was afraid his hands would freeze off, Brent widened his eyes in a shocked manner and said, “How rude of us! Would you guys like to come in for a cup of hot chocolate?”

Sirius took once quick glance at James and accepted the offer.

 

 

As they sat around the young couple’s Christmas tree and James watched his best friend talk animatedly about how life at Hogwarts was (Brent kept interrupting to ask if this and that professor was still teaching there, followed by a funny story from his youth), James thought that if he had to rank their Christmases at Hogwarts, this would definitely be in the top three.

He hadn’t gone home for Christmas, but somehow it felt like he had.


End file.
